Lakewood dropped Game 1 of the SAL Championship series 3-1 in Greenville tonight.  Trevor May had another good start, but a lack of offense and some very suspect baserunning were too much for the BlueClaws to overcome.  

May pitched decently, allowing a run on four hits with 8 strikeouts and 2 walks in five innings.  He sailed through the first inning, sandwiching a groundout between two strikeouts.  He threw almost all fastballs, hitting as high as 97 mph (although according to the radio, the gun in Greenville is stationed up in the press  box and runs 4-5 mph fast).  In the bottom of the second, May started working some curves in, but was having trouble locating them.  The leadoff hitter hit a curve off the Green Monster-esque leftfield wall in Greenville for a double, but May went strikeout-pop up-strikeout.  Greenville finally broke through for a run in the third.  After a leadoff looping single to right, May came back to get a strikeout and a foul out before walking the next batter.  So with two on and two outs, May got Greenville’s #3 hitter Reynaldo Rodriguez buried at 0-2, and left a fastball right down the middle that got turned around into CF for an RBI single.  This was the first run allowed by May in four postseason starts.  The rest of May’s outing was fairly uneventful.

The BlueClaws offense was quiet for most of the night, and that futility was compounded by some outstanding defense by Greenville, along with fielding and baserunning mistakes by Lakewood.  In the Top of the 2nd, Leandro Castro dragged a bunt for the ‘Claws first hit.  He would have been picked off first save for a high throw to first by the pitcher, which allowed Castro to get to second safely.  With Jeremy Barnes batting, Castro was nearly picked off second by the catcher.  Alas, Leandro’s Wild Ride finally ended when he inexplicably got thrown out stealing 3rd with two on and two out.  In the Top of the 6th, the BlueClaws managed two hits and a walk, but had nothing to show for it as Jiwan James was caught stealing and Jonathan Singleton got picked off first by the catcher.  Singleton also had some lapses defensively, as indecision on a groundball allowed the second Greenville run to score.  This came after he overran a foul pop towards the dugout the previous inning and the ball fell untouched behind him.

On the positive side, Leandro Castro had two hits, including a solo homer that accounted for Lakewood’s only run, and Sebastian Valle threw out two runners stealing (no small feat as Greenville was 3rd in all of minor league baseball in steals).  Game 2 tomorrow night with Julio Rodriguez getting the call for Lakewood.